Neil Diamond

Neil Diamond treated his dedicated fans to a historic show at the West Village's famed music venue The Bitter End last night, May 7, 2008. He performed seven song set mixed with new songs from his latest album, Home Before Dark, and classic material. Diamond captivated the lucky first 200 concert-goers who had queued-up since mid-morning upon learning of the secret show sponsored by MySpace.

Neil Diamond greeted the long line of fans stationed outside The Bitter End on Bleeker Street, saying hello and posing for pictures. Once inside the club, Diamond, backed by a small band consisting of members from both his studio and touring musicians, gave an energized acoustic performance of "Solitary Man", "Don't Go There", "Home Before Dark", "Pretty Amazing Grace", "Kentucky Woman", "Cherry, Cherry" and "Sweet Caroline". The club placed speakers in the windows during the performance allowing the hundreds of fans who couldn't get into the club to sing-along on the street and sidewalk and participate in this once in a lifetime event.

"I sang that song on this very stage 40 years ago," Diamond told the adoring crowd after a raucous performance of his 1967 hit "Kentucky Woman". Performance footage from The Bitter End show will be available on www.myspace.com early next week.

Diamond's 27th studio album, Home Before Dark, was released on Tuesday, May 6. A world tour will begin in Rotterdam, Netherlands on May 24; returning to the US on July 19 (St. Paul, MN) hitting 37 cities stateside. Diamond will return to NYC in August for a 3 night run at Madison Square Garden. Full tour dates can be located at www.neildiamond.com.